Michael IV of Byzantium

Michael IV "the Paphlagonian" of Byzantium (1010-10 December 1041) was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 1034 to 1041, succeeding Romanus III of Byzantium and preceding Michael V of Byzantium.

Biography
Michael was born in 1010 to the House of Paphlagon, a dynasty of Orthodox Christian Greeks. His family were peasants, but he became a noble when he married Zoe of Byzantium, the daughter of Emperor Constantine VIII of Byzantium who had several husbands during her reign, all of whom became emperors. Michael and Zoe strangled the previous emperor Romanus III of Byzantium to death in the bath after his poisoning was too slow, and they married on the same day as his death. Michael had epileptic fits, and he was further weakened by many conspiracies, including rebellions at Antioch, Nicopolis, and Bulgaria. The Arabs sacked the city of Myra in present-day Antalya Province, Turkey, the Serbs overthrew Byzantine authority, and the Pechenegs raided up to Thessalonica. However, by 1035 Arab pirates that raided the Byzantines on the eastern frontier were either killed or captured, the Byzantines took the Muslim fortress of Berkri on Lake Van, and Edessa was reconquered in 1037. George Maniakes, a great Byzantine general, almost drove the Arabs off Sicily, but both a Norman rebellion and John the Eunuch's orders for him to withdraw left the island in Arab hands. The Pechenegs forced the Serbs to seek Byzantine protection, but in 1040 the Serbs revolted again. Michael fell ill with dropsy and adopted his nephew, who became Michael V of Byzantium on his death in 1041.